2000 BMW 323i vs. other cars?

Hey so im 21 years old lookin to buy my first car for approx. 5 grand. Give or take. Im looking at buying at 1999-2001 BMW 3-series in manual. Its the sweetest looking ride you can find for the price in my opinion. Thing is these cars are always over 200km's minimum in most cases. I have found other cars with under 200km's but generally there all chevy's or old civics. My feeling is that if i were to buy the bmw with over 200k that it would probably have equal if not better reliablilty than almost all american made cars under 200k. Plus bmw's seem to hold their value, even the high mileage ones seem to have a market of buyers. To me this seems like a smart investment since if i bought for example an 2004 chevy cobalt with 150km's its value drops quick PLUS all north american cars have the tendency to fall apart around that age. So my question is really would a bmw with over 200k be a more likely reliable vehicle than others? Im a car enthusiast big time and want a fun car thus why im looking for a manual and something a little more unique. Ive looked at buying a nissan 300zx or newer prelude but they all are in the same price range but the 300zx is older and preludes all appear to be driven into the ground and garbage. Im going to be a student soon as well and wont have hoards of money thus the need for reliablilty and i know bmw's tend to cost a fortune to repair. Also, i hear the 323's are sluggish in auto is this the same for manual? Just looking for some advice, thanks!